Tag: Staff Directory WordPress Plugin

Consumer behaviour research shows that people will buy from those they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for ideas to sell more products online and increase user interaction on your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff using a WordPress staff list plugin.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily add a simple and easily updatable directory of employees to your site using free plugins.

Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the WordPress administration and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will show up in your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could start to add new staff entries at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings screen …

(Groups screen)

Note: Adding groups is just like configuring categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this section to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter the group description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create your new group name …

(Groups section)

If you run a medium to large organization, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …

To change Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Your selected category open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

Continue adding categories in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the employee’s name
• Slug: You can modify the slug associated with your staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the person’s position here
• Email: Your staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your employee’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or faculty member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

After you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering your group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff or team member’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

To modify your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• The WP Control Area Explained

Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WP permalinks here:

• How To Change Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding new entries to your employee directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have finished entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to modify an individual’s entry, simply hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

If you have many entries, your table can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries if required …

(Search Staff Members search field)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which your employees appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that entries appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the item to a new position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

After adding all members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that you can use.

A useful variation you can select, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])

Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options screen)

This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

You can also export your staff members details by going to your WP admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin developer.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a staff directory in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

The Modern Team Staff Directory plugin helps you collect your team information and showcase it anywhere on your site in beautiful grids, columns and tables. This premium plugin features over a dozen presets and provides editors that make it easy to edit and update your directory.

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

This plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.

You can also create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one individual member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

Detailed information about  each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

Staffer uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an online staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

More info:

• Staffer

If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff Directory Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update list directory of employees or team members to your website without coding skills.

Images of models used to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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